News 12:00

BULLETIN 16 April 12 pm

Good afternoon. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The North West Health Department is to begin with pauper funerals for the unclaimed Stilfontein miners
# A US pastor is rescued after being kidnapped at gunpoint in Gqeberha
# And rugby: Nelson Mandela Bay will host the Under 20 Rugby Championship next month

# The North West Health Department says it will have no choice but to hold pauper burials for unclaimed bodies of Stilfontein illegal miners. The department’s spokesperson, Tshegofatso Mothibedi, told SABC News that only 12 of the 78 bodies recovered from Shaft 11 have been positively identified by families. He also confirmed that DNA samples have been collected from all bodies:

# An American missionary was rescued after being kidnapped at gunpoint during a sermon at the Fellowship Baptist Church in Motherwell, Gqeberha, in the Eastern Cape last week. Hawks spokesperson, Avele Fumba, says they received information that 45-year-old pastor Josh Sullivan was being held at a house in KwaMagxaki, Gqeberha. He says three suspected kidnappers were killed in a shootout that broke out during the multi-disciplinary law enforcement operation:

# The International Energy Agency says global oil demand will be lower than previously forecast this year as rising trade tensions weigh on the economic outlook. While US imports of oil, gas and refined products have been exempted from president Donald Trump’s tariffs, his other levies have raised fears of inflation and recession, pushing crude prices to four-year lows. It lowered its forecast for growth in oil demand by 300-thousand barrels per day – from just over one-million barrels per day in its March report to 730-thousand.

# Rugby: The Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape will next month play host to this year’s edition of the Under 20 Rugby Championship. The second edition of the Southern Hemisphere tournament will bring together the best young stars from South Africa, New Zealand, Argentina, and Australia. In last year’s inaugural tournament in Australia, New Zealand edged South Africa for the title. Junior Springbok coach, Kevin Foote, says this tournament is crucial for their preparations for the World Rugby Under20 Championship in Italy in July.

# The financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-89-cents and the euro at 21-rand-49-cents. One British pound costs 25-rand-9-cents and Bitcoin trades at 83-thousand-157-dollars. Gold sells at three-thousand-314-dollars-20-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 63-dollars-81-cents a barrel.

# And finally: The Institute of Race Relations says the ANC has estranged voters with its continued pursuit of unpopular socio-economic policies. For the first time in IRR’s opinion polling, the DA surpassed the ANC. The institute’s Hermann Pretorius says the potential emergence of a politics defined by socio-economic concerns rather than identity-based grievance is one of the standout features of the latest poll, which was conducted at a time when politics was disrupted by the question of a VAT increase:

Stay tuned for more news………….